Go Cubbies!

I experienced my first Cubs game yesterday at Wrigley field when we got to see them play the Cardinals. Unfortunately, we accidentally left the camera at home, so this is the only picture taken as evidence. But at least we were all dressed up!

Ravinia and the Five Browns

The day we got back from Alabama, we went to the open-air concert hall called Ravinia here in Chicago to see (listen to) the Five Browns play in concert. A few friends came with us, and we highly recommend the experience to anyone with the time. We'll give everyone some pointers.

To fit in well at Ravinia, don't be ashamed to bring a full-blown eight course meal to your concert. Many people arrive with lawn chairs, portable tables, and enough food to last a week.

On the right is Jenny Spendlove, whose husband is currently doing a JD/MBA at the University of Chicago. She and Kenny are constructing a box as our makeshift table. When covered with a table cloth it was really quite lovely.



This is Jonny Spendlove, her husband, who was less than impressed with her ingenuity, although I think it turned out quite well.

She even brought a candle, which facilitated some wizard playing towards the end of evening.  

The concert itself was very beautiful, especially since we got to see the Five Browns, one of whom will be joining us here in Chicago while his wife goes to the University of Chicago Law School.

Right after I took this, I was scolded by an usher, who informed me that cameras were not permitted. So you should all feel very privileged--it is a forbidden photo.

Return to the Young Homestead

Two weekends ago we took a trip to visit Kenny's parents for his birthday and for some pre-interview suit buying. While there, we got to...

surprise Matto coming home from his trip to Ecuador via Rochester (although I will admit I slightly ruined the surprise, being altogether unsneaky and waltzing right through a loud automatic doorway in his line of sight),

celebrate the boys' birthdays...

(Matto showing off his stylin' new University of Chicago socks--guess who gave him those)

and play with Booboo outside of her prison.

Unfortunately for me (and Wendy) I have not quite learned when not to pick her up, so we had to clean up an accident at one point. At least this time it happened on tiled floor as opposed to the couch when I first met Booboo.



Home sweet home.

Nauvoo--Day 3

Friday morning began with a trip to the temple. (Forgive the cloudiness--coming out of the nice air-conditioned temple to 98 degrees with 95% humidity clouded the lens)

The temple was beautiful, made even more so by the fact that it was built as near to the original as possible. And Kenny, in true Kenny fashion, managed to find a hallway with Joseph Smith's old sword hanging on display and ushered us all down it as we were exiting.



We visited Jonathan Browning's house, the gunmaker whose son designed the first-ever machine gun...

and my Great-great-great-etc. Grandpa's house.

We also visited Carthage Jail, where the prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred on June 27, 1844.

 It was a remarkable experience--I highly recommend it to everyone, member and non. To see what the early Saints saw and to understand what they truly treasured were the highlights of the trip, and to know that we are the continuation of that history is all the better. I'm sure the Saints are proud to see the incredible impact their sacrifices have had on the church and their descendants.

Nauvoo--Day 2

Having forced the two girls to sit still far too often the day before, the morning of Day 2 was spent playing pioneer games--although it's hard to say who enjoyed it more, us or the girls.

The highlight of the place were the stilts

which Kenny could never quite master as well as the self-proclaimed

Stilty Queen!



Afterwards, we took a walk towards the Mississippi along the Trail of Hope, the path the Saints took on their way out of Nauvoo.

It is something you'll have to experience for yourself--I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it would have been to leave the city they built out of the swamp and their beloved temple for the desert and uncertainty that was awaiting for them in Utah. Luckily, they would make the desert bloom, too.

Nauvoo--Day 1

Although it may not seem like it, I'm actually getting better at posting! After our trip to Mexico it took almost two months to get the blog up; I've managed to cut that time in half!

At the end of June we drove the surprisingly long five hours out to Nauvoo to meet up with Grandma Jackie, Kenny's parents, Emily, Afton, Summer, and Uncle Mark and his family. Tyler, Kenny's cousin, is currently serving a performing mission in Nauvoo with about twenty other young men and women and gets to do show after show after show all day long!

We did get some fun pictures of Tyler and the rest of the cast actually singing, but as they are actually singing they are not the most flattering.

 



This fine looking young fellow on the left is Kenny's cousin Chase.

Tyler with his parents.

Our first full day there was spent exploring a lot of the town, with a stroll around the temple grounds...

(accompanied by the two cutest neices I've ever seen)



a wagon and a carriage ride around town...

complete with the girls meeting the horses...

and, at the end of the day, some much-needed naps.



The Land of Potatoes

A few weekends ago, while Kenny was elbow-deep in his books and not very good company, I escaped out to visit my mom and Colton and see the new monstrosity that is their house. I forgot to take many good pictures of it, but I did get a picture of Colton and his cousins showering in the "water park", as they have come to refer to the master bathroom.

While there, I got to see Colton play some of his baseball games and got to try out different shutter speeds on  my camera for some fun action shots. Colton and his team are doing very well, and Colton, being the slugger that he is, has hit a few home runs already this season.



Grandma and Grandpa Whitt, the Kelseys (my mom's youngest sister and her family), and their new dogs also paid us a visit. And although the three Kelsey boys and Colton will always be adorable, I'm afraid the two new hounds stole the show. Their grand entrance, however, was a little anti-climactic, as when they first arrived they refused to walk anywhere and had to be carried. Nate was very proud of this fact, as apparently he did extensive research beforehand and found the slowest, laziest, and most lethargic dogs he could. And here they are--Copper and Major, respectively. 

The perfect dogs for Carter, Jake, and McKay (aka "the duck", courtesy of Kenny), while being wrestled and poked and pulled, they might once in a while emit a low growl, but have never resisted or fought back. And during small skirmishes with each other, they will soon flop sideways onto the ground and bark from that position, since standing is just too much work sometimes. Even pulling on a leash does nothing; more than likely you will end up pulling them along by their necks, unless they are inclined to actually put forth a little effort.

It was a sad moment when I realized that my days of three-month summers in the land of potatoes were officially over.